The invention relates to a smoke canister of the type which includes a casing to contain a smoke-generating charge and which includes a lid for the casing, the lid containing ignition and propellant charges and having a periphery with electrical contact rings.
Smoke canisters of the species described in more detail at the outset are known from German Laid-Open application DE-OS No. 15 78 348. Their main purpose is the self-protection of vehicles of every kind, especially combat tanks, and they are therefore carried on such vehicles and are fired from launchers externally attached to the vehicle. Customary launchers, distributed in large numbers, are designed for a maximum gas pressure of about 13.5 Bar, so that only a propellant charge mostly consisting of black powder (which generates a low gas pressure) can be used for the launching of smoke canisters. It would be desirable, because of the achievable increase in protection, to launch smoke canisters having a larger smoke-generating charge from the vehicles seeking protection. However, this is not easily possible with customary launchers because of their comparatively low resistance to pressure. Furthermore, the black powder propellant charges usually employed have the disadvantage that they foul the electrical contacts for the firing of the smoke canisters to a high degree.
Especially when it is impossible to clean immediately after the launching of the smoke canisters, heavy corrosion effects occur, leading to difficulties with the contacts and, at the least, making repeated launches of the smoke canisters more difficult.